grace period

noun

Definition of grace period

: a period of time beyond a due date during which a financial obligation may be met without penalty or cancellation

Examples of grace period in a Sentence

The terms of the loan allow for a ten-day grace period.

Recent Examples on the Web

Chrome 71, scheduled for release in December, will give site owners a 30 day grace period to clean up their site after an abusive experience is reported. — Jon Porter, The Verge, "Chrome will soon ad-block an entire website if it shows abusive ads," 5 Nov. 2018 Not all will, Kaye says, but the three main U.S. credit agencies allow a grace period of 180 days before an unpaid medical bill impacts your credit report. — Mattie Quinn, SELF, "8 Ways to Negotiate and Pay Off Expensive Medical Bills," 15 Feb. 2019 Sales, the MdTA spokesman, said delinquent accounts are referred for nonrenewal of their registration 30 days after a 45-day grace period has passed; a few days later, the account is referred to collections. — Washington Post, "Maryland rakes in millions of dollars from toll fines and penalties," 28 Apr. 2018 Many federal student loans come with a six-month grace period after the student graduates or drops below half-time enrollment. — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, "Behind on college loans? Consider these options," 2 May 2018 The new prices take effect immediately, unlike some of Netflix's previous rate raises, which have come with a grace period. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "The Price of Netflix Is Going Up," 15 Jan. 2019 The government in Skopje will have a five-year grace period to implement practical changes, such as altering official letterhead, and changing passports and car license plates. — Konstantin Testorides, The Seattle Times, "Macedonia’s name change – what does the country have to do?," 28 Jan. 2019 Sites that are reported to have abusive experiences will be given a 30-day grace period to clean up their behavior before every ad on the site is blocked. — Dani Deahl, The Verge, "Google releases Chrome 71 with features to block abusive ads," 5 Dec. 2018 Some schools give students a grace period, allowing them to continue eating lunch for several days or weeks before turning them away from the lunch line. — Nadra Nittle, Vox, "How states and crowdfunding are tackling the growing problem of student lunch debt," 27 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'grace period.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Gracilaria

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Last Updated

14 Apr 2019

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The first known use of grace period was in 1907

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More Definitions for grace period

grace period

noun

Financial Definition of grace period

What It Is

A grace period is a period of time, usually about 10 days, during which a past due amount can be paid with little or no penalty.

How It Works

Let's assume your credit card payment is due on December 15. You forget to make the payment. On December 20, you remember. By then, though, it's too late. Your bill is past due.

However, if your account has a grace period, you can make the payment and the creditor might not assess a late fee or other penalty.

Why It Matters

Past-due bills often incur late fees, higher interest rates, penalties and other charges. Worst of all, the creditor might report the late payment to the credit reporting agencies, leaving a black mark on your credit rating (and even lowering your credit rating). In some cases, a bill get so past due (say, 90 or 180 days), that the creditor considers the account in default and may charge off the balance. A grace period gives customers a chance to catch up quickly before it's too late. After that point, the lender might assign or sell the account to a collection agency, which will try to collect the balance.

Source: Investing Answers

grace period

noun

English Language Learners Definition of grace period

: an amount of extra time that someone is given to pay a bill, finish a project, etc.

See the full definition for grace period in the English Language Learners Dictionary

grace period

noun

grace pe·ri·od

Legal Definition of grace period

: a period of time beyond a scheduled date during which a required action (as payment of an obligation) may be taken without incurring the ordinarily resulting adverse consequences (as penalty or cancellation): as

a : a period of 30 days or one month during which premiums on insurance policies may be paid without penalty

b : a period of ten days during which certain security interests (as those in fixtures) must be perfected in order to have priority over conflicting security interests under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code

— called also days of grace